The Three Lines of Defense

Strategies that shift
the tax game.

We look at your tax strategy from more than one angle. This is how we find and stack tax favor — not one strategy, but three lines of defense working simultaneously.

CTBA Framework

Three lines of defense.
Applied simultaneously.

Line 01

Business
Strategies

Proactive positioning to protect profits, limit exposure, and build on a stable foundation. These are the strategies most businesses should have in place before any tax event — and most don't.

Entity Optimization LLC · S-Corp · C-Corp · Trusts+
The right structure dramatically shifts tax burdens and liability. Most businesses are in the wrong entity for their current size — and it's costing them.
Employee Benefits & MERPs Most Overlooked+
Medical Expense Reimbursement Plans and strategic benefits are among the most consistently overlooked bottom-line opportunities. Significant savings, consistently missed by most advisors.
Investment Tax Credits R&D · Energy · WOTC+
R&D credits, energy credits, WOTC, cost segregation, depreciation stacking. These exist because the IRS rewards the right business activities — most businesses never claim them.
Qualified Plans Retirement · Deferred Comp+
Retirement and deferred compensation structures that reduce current-year exposure while building future tax-advantaged wealth.
Special Purpose Entities Asset Protection+
Strategic use of purpose-built entities for specific business activities, asset protection, and tax positioning.

Most Overlooked

MERPs & Employee Benefits

Fringe benefits, health reimbursements, and executive benefits create significant bottom-line improvement that most business owners never access because their CPA isn't looking for it.

Highest Impact

Investment Tax Credits

Energy, R&D, WOTC, and depreciation-based credits reward specific business activities. Past payments of $100K+ become the measure of what you can redirect through forward structuring.

First Priority

Entity Optimization

The entity your business operates in determines how it's taxed before a single dollar is earned. Getting this right — or fixing it — is foundational to everything else.

Line 02

Personal
Strategies

Legacy, lifestyle, and personal wealth positioning. These strategies work alongside — not instead of — your existing CPA relationship. We go deeper into the code than most preparers are motivated to look.

Legacy Planning DAFs · CRTs · Gifting+
Donor Advised Funds, Charitable Remainder Trusts, and gifting structures that reduce taxes today while building the legacy you intend — not the one the tax code defaults to.
1031 Exchanges Real Estate+
Real estate repositioning that defers capital gains and builds tax-efficient generational wealth. One of the most powerful tools in the code for property owners.
Cost Segregation & Depreciation Schedule C · Real Estate+
Accelerating depreciation through cost segregation studies creates significant current-year deductions — often uncovering six figures in missed opportunity for property owners.
Charitable Strategies Impact · Legacy+
Tax-favored giving structures that do more than reduce a bill — they amplify impact and create legacy. Giving with intention, not just compliance.

Timely Opportunity

Roth Conversion Window

The current tax environment creates a rare window for conversion strategies. High earners who act now may lock in rates that won't be available later.

Real Estate Owners

Cost Segregation & Depreciation

Accelerating depreciation through cost segregation studies creates significant current-year deductions for property owners — often uncovering six figures in missed opportunity.

Legacy-Minded

Charitable & Legacy Planning

Donor Advised Funds, Charitable Remainder Trusts, and gifting structures that reduce taxes today while building the legacy you intend — not just the one the tax code defaults to.

Line 03

Clean-Up
Strategies

Strategic countermoves that use deep tax code familiarity to find missed opportunities and fix what's already happened. You may have already paid too much. This is where we go back and get it.

Prior Year Recovery Three-Year Review+
A review of the previous three years of tax returns tells us where you overpaid. We find it, document it, and recover what's yours — without amending returns where possible.
Alternative Tax Credits R&D · Energy · Hiring+
R&D, energy, hiring, health benefit credits and other non-obvious code incentives most preparers never surface. IRS-sanctioned, rarely leveraged, consistently missed.
Green-Light Ideas Deep Code Tactics+
Deep code tactics that most tax professionals don't pursue because they require subject matter expertise most firms don't maintain. We do. That's the whole difference.
One Big Beautiful Bill Act Current Legislation+
Capitalizing on current legislative changes to restructure past and forward tax positioning. The code changes — your strategy should too.
Out-of-the-Box Credits Specialty Strategies+
Specialized strategies for specific industries and situations that fall entirely outside standard tax preparation. These are the ones most preparers will never think to look for.

Start Here

Three-Year Review

A review of the previous three years of tax returns tells us everything. Most clients discover they've already overpaid — and that overpayment becomes the starting position for everything ahead.

Most Missed

Alternative Credits

R&D, energy, hiring credits. These are IRS-encouraged incentives designed to reward specific business activities. Most preparers don't look for them. We specialize in finding them.

Our Edge

Green-Light Mentality

Tax preparation strategies aim to protect the preparer from liability. We're motivated by how much savings we find you — not by how defensible our work looks on audit day.

Our Mindset

We don't work
for the IRS.

We work for you. We hunt every legal advantage. This is bigger than a 1040 form.

Tax preparation strategies aim to protect the preparer from liability. Tax planning strategies are driven by one question: how much can we legally save you? Those are two very different mandates.

Start Your Assessment

What we find

Past tax dollars deployed into IRS-compliant programs with depreciation benefits

Beyond the tax bill

Tax-favored strategies found in employee benefits, executive recruitment, retention, and retirement

Looking forward

Forecast future tax savings by rebalancing tax exposure — not just filing, but engineering what comes next

Ready to See What's There

Three years of returns.
One conversation.

A review of your previous three years of tax returns tells us everything. If there's an opportunity in your tax history, you'll know within 48 hours.

Start Your Assessment

Reviewed personally · 48 hours · No obligation